817.00/5214: Telegram
The Chargé in Nicaragua (Munro) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 31, 1927—3:01 p.m.]
391. The following telegram was sent to the American Legation Tegucigalpa:
“December 31, 10 a.m. Your December 30, 3 p.m. You realize of course that the bandits whom Pinel has apparently been assisting are Conservatives who have been giving almost as much trouble as Sandino. The evidence against him seems strong and he has brought increased suspicion on himself by the ridiculous reports which he has furnished to his Government regarding alleged abuses by marine [Page 453] patrols while dispersing Conservative bandit groups. The Honduran Minister here informs me that Pinel is an extreme Nationalist and such a man would naturally sympathize with the Nicaraguan Conservatives in the blood feud which now exists between the two parties in Nueva Segovia, especially as relations between party leaders on both sides of the border have always been very close.”